Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Now, walking into the first floor of shopping malls in some first-and second-tier cities, the first thing that comes into view is no longer jewelry, cosmetics, high-end clothing counters, but new energy car showrooms.

Many netizens joked that today's large shopping malls would not be mature and popular without one or two showrooms of new energy vehicles. Indeed, since Tesla, the representative of the new power, set a precedent, car companies such as Wei Xiao Li Wei Na have also rushed to enter large-scale complexes and shopping malls to show off the elegant demeanour of the new power.

Different from traditional car brands to build 4S stores in various parts of the city, the new car-building forces prefer to select urban complexes and shopping centers, and build high-end urban showrooms in busy downtown areas, in order to highlight their brand characteristics-"new".

(photo: Qin Jun)

However, with the gradual increase of car showrooms in urban complexes and shopping centers, many consumers have found that new energy vehicle brands in the "beach" complex and the "golden" location of shopping malls are no longer limited to new powers. individual traditional car companies have also begun to enter the beach.

In large-scale complexes and shopping malls, a "fierce battle" between the new and old forces of car-building is under way, what does it mean behind this?

01 traditional car companies "follow the trend"? "soon, our brand's first new energy vehicle city exhibition hall will open at the end of this year."

Li Yue (a pseudonym), the manager of the brand marketing department of a new energy car company in China, told him that with the new power of car building "grabbing" shopping malls in first-tier cities, many traditional car companies are starting to get restless.

In May this year, his car company decided to choose shopping centers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and other cities to build urban exhibition halls in a direct way, so as to "confront" the entrenched new forces of car-building.

"two years ago, most of the traditional mainframe factories looked down on the new power's business model, which was to rob the counter with big-name cosmetics in shopping malls." Li Yue said frankly that in the eyes of traditional car companies, the new forces lack technology, experience and channels, and the only thing they can do is alternative and extreme marketing means.

Abandoning the traditional 4S store and choosing to build an exhibition hall on the first floor of the shopping mall is one of them.

For traditional car companies with mature and stable sales networks, they will certainly not pay attention to similar "tricks". "but after the development of the past two years, many new car-building forces that have opened up new channels have caught up with their sales."

It is precisely because the sales volume of the new power brand continues to rise, and even has the strength of being "tough" with the traditional car companies, the traditional car companies have to face up to the marketing means and business model of the "rising stars", and even put down their posture, imitate and test the waters.

According to the research report released by Changjiang Securities, the annual sales of the new head force "Wei Xiaoli" exceeded 90,000 vehicles in 2021, while the annual sales of the three "Wei Xiaoli" companies in 2020 were only 43728, 27041 and 32624 respectively. Among them, Xiaopeng Motor increased the fastest, reaching 263%, compared with the same period last year.

If you look at the size of Wei Xiaoli, there are only 177, 209 and 86 stores in 2020, 289, 259 and 165 stores of the three brands in 2021, and 350, 349 and 209 in 2022.

(source: Changjiang Securities)

Most of the stores of the new power are mainly concentrated in first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities. As the new power of car building continues to expand stores in the city's shopping malls and complexes and build high-end urban exhibition halls, the sales of these new energy vehicles are also soaring. In June this year, the sales of the mainstream new force "Wei Xiao Liwei" exceeded 10,000.

"before, the team has investigated other traditional car brands that have laid out the city showroom, and the sales are really good." Li Yue told me that compared with the traditional 4S stores located in the suburbs and on the edge of the city center, the daily passenger volume in the downtown shopping mall can increase tenfold, and the number of orders can be increased by as much as three or four times.

In his view, if traditional car companies remain indifferent, I believe that some of the target car buyers will be eroded by the new forces in the near future. As a result, traditional car companies have to change their thinking and follow the trend in the layout of urban exhibition halls in major shopping centers and join the volume of "shop robbery".

Knowing the notes also found that in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Geely's new energy sub-brand Polar Krypton, its urban showroom, Polar Krypton Space, is located in shopping malls such as Yifang City, Coastal City, Yuehui City and so on. And with the prominent position on the first floor of Yuehui City in Guangzhou, there are BYD Dynasty Store, Euler, Euan and so on.

So, compared with the traditional 4S store, what are the advantages of opening the car showroom in the complex and shopping center?

Will opening car showrooms in complexes and shopping malls become a major trend of new energy vehicle brands and even the whole automobile industry?

02 impulsive consumption in the mall "on weeknights, weekends and holidays, the sales consultants in the store have no chance to catch their breath."

A year ago, Zhang Chen (a pseudonym) joined the city exhibition hall of a new car-building brand in Baoan District, Shenzhen, and is now the sales director of the exhibition hall. Having been engaged in automobile sales for ten years, she has unique views on the completely different business effects of the two sales terminals of the traditional 4S store and urban exhibition hall.

Zhang Chen told me that because large complexes and shopping malls are often located in urban centers and bustling business areas, they have considerable passenger traffic. Therefore, the car showroom on the first floor of the shopping mall has a considerable passenger flow. "it's the same reason that merchants do e-commerce live broadcasts and use online celebrity anchors to drive sales."

On weekday evenings, weekends and statutory holidays, the number of consumers visiting large complexes and shopping malls increases sharply, and the daily passenger flow and order volume of urban exhibition halls also increase.

(photo: Qin Jun)

But many 4S stores, even on weekends and holidays, do not have much passenger flow, and few non-car buyers hang out in 4S stores.

"therefore, people who will visit 4S stores are either customers who need to buy cars, or consumers who have been invited by salespeople and online consultants to come to see the car and test drive, and 4S stores are rarely open until night." Zhang Chen said frankly that the evening is usually the peak of passenger flow in the city exhibition hall, and it is also the busiest time for sales consultants.

Open the thermal map of the map App, understand the notes found that at 10:00 on working days, Shenzhen's mainstream motor city passenger flow is limited, and some settled in the new energy vehicle brand complex, shopping center, passenger flow is obviously higher, and the distribution is more concentrated.

By 8 o'clock in the evening, the heat of the mainstream motor city showed low-flow purple and blue-purple, but the heat of large complexes and shopping malls were all crimson, and the passenger flow was obviously much higher than during the day, which to a certain extent confirmed Zhang Chen's statement.

"different location routes also determine the differences in the service form and quality of urban exhibition halls and traditional 4S stores." She told me to understand notes that the main service form of 4S store is invitation and passive service, while the urban exhibition hall in the complex is more active service and goes deep into consumers.

Many of the customers she served originally did not intend to buy a car for a change, but when they were shopping in the mall, they saw the car showroom and just made a lively consultation, but in the end they were moved by the marketing atmosphere, product highlights, and consultant's service. to place an order to buy a car.

"it can be said that the car showroom in the bustling business district and shopping center is a sign for car companies to settle among the crowd, reminding shoppers all the time that it is time to change cars, and some customers look at it at will, but they can't help but be moved. Therefore, compared with the 4S store, which is not visited once in several years, customers are easy to spend impulsively in the city showroom that they often see."

At the same time, Zhang Chen also stressed that since urban exhibition halls are usually located in prosperous shopping malls and mature shopping malls, the number of pure onlookers is dozens of times higher than that of ordinary 4S stores, and the pressure on sales consultancy service is enormous. "orders (several times higher than ordinary 4S stores), in fact, a large number of people entering stores are not target customers."

It can be seen that the new energy vehicle exhibition hall in the complex and shopping center, although the visiting consumer group is not as accurate as the traditional 4S store, it is better than going deep into the consumer's life circle, creating a kind of consumption scene, arousing consumers' desire to buy a car all the time. Therefore, the effect of boosting the order quantity of the order shop is also very obvious.

Such being the case, will traditional car companies gradually close down traditional 4S stores and focus on the urban exhibition halls of large shopping malls?

03 the high cost is unbearable. "there are too many exhibition halls in the city, but in fact, many car companies and dealers cannot stand it, so traditional car companies will not follow suit."

Liu Ning (a pseudonym) is the head of the marketing department of an automobile trade group in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. According to him, as the agency brand of new energy vehicles plans to "land on the beach" in large complexes and shopping malls, as regional agents, they have to start to layout similar urban exhibition halls.

However, the exhibition halls in the complex and shopping malls are quite expensive. He revealed that for large-scale complexes and shopping malls in bustling business areas, the rent of shops on the first floor is several times or even more than ten times that of those opened on the outskirts of the city and the Motor City.

(photo: Qin Jun)

Liu Ning cited the rent of the group's new energy vehicles in Guangzhou 4S stores and urban exhibition halls as an example: the 4S store in the suburbs has an area of 1000 square meters and the monthly rent is only 36000 yuan; in the downtown shopping center, a 250square meter exhibition hall, the monthly rent is as high as 90,000 yuan.

In a real estate rental platform, understand the notes also see, located in Shenzhen Longgang Sakata FAW City, suitable for operating car 4S shop shop, venue rent is only 1.5 yuan / day. But in the large complex in Baoan Center, the store rent is as high as 12.67 yuan per day, which is nearly 8.5 times higher. In Futian central district of Shenzhen, the rent of some mature shopping malls is as high as 30 yuan per day.

Commercial Real Estate Watch once reported that in the benchmarking project of the new business district in Beijing, the rent of a car exhibition hall is 600-1000 yuan / month, while that of a large shopping mall in the core business district is as high as 1000-3000 yuan / month. far higher than traditional formats such as gold jewelry and electronic digital.

"so many car 4S stores in the suburbs rent a whole building, but the exhibition hall in the complex may be smaller than a western restaurant because the rent is too expensive and there is no way to set up a warehouse." Liu Ning said frankly that some of the second-line car-building new power brands, the size of their urban exhibition hall is only large enough to place a car.

Of course, in addition to the high rent, due to the large number of people serving in the city exhibition hall, which is the facade of the brand, the number of sales consultants arranged by mainframe factories and agents in the city exhibition hall is also higher than that of 4S stores, and the degree of professionalism is higher. Therefore, the salary expenses of the staff in the store should not be underestimated.

"the sales volume of exhibition halls in large shopping malls is several times higher than that of ordinary 4S stores, but the operating cost is also several times or even more than ten times higher. It is good for urban exhibition halls to maintain their capital, and many of them advertise brands at a loss." He said helplessly that the high operating costs of the automobile city exhibition hall have really scared off many traditional car companies.

Tesla now intends to reduce the number of super experience stores in first-tier cities and build more 4S stores in traditional auto circles to improve exhibition and after-sales service, China Business reported.

And many car-building new power brands also because of the increase in marketing expenses, a huge sales network, resulting in increased losses, there is no hope to achieve profits in the short term. In order to reduce the burden of operation, some new forces have also begun to reduce the number and size of stores in large shopping malls.

Conclusion for traditional car companies that already have mature sales terminals and 4S store network, the layout of new energy vehicle showrooms in bustling complexes and shopping centers can only be used as a supplement to marketing means and as a big signboard. Set up in the consumer crowd to deepen consumers' awareness of the brand.

In the future, perhaps more new car-building forces will pour into shopping malls, but there will also be brands that will continue to withdraw. It is obviously not a good idea for traditional car companies to close 4S stores and open experience stores and exhibition halls in urban shopping centers, and it is difficult to appear on a large scale. After all, for traditional car companies, the existence of urban showrooms is just telling shoppers: Hey, look at new energy cars.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: understand Notes (ID:dongdong_note), written by: Shenle Editor: Qin Yan

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